yeah especially when Thorton peed on him before setting up their 3rd goal. he was outsmarted and out muscled. he is very much a rookie right now but still very high potential.

One of his few mistakes, which was borderline. You can't make every play. Thorton makes that play against most defenseman. Beside who was covering Grier. There wasn't a guy within twenty feet of him.

I know, I know. I'm not saying Welch sucks, far from it. He IS however a ROOKIE and he will make rookie mistakes. Grier should have never had that shot but when your defense gives Joe Thorton a night and a day to find a player your forwards are going to panic most of the time. Just all around bad play but it broke down with that move Thortont put on him.

Welch is looking to line guys up and it's getting him caught out of position alot, if that's his style then I guess I'll just have to get used to it. After watching Orik's 2st 2 season I know that it takes some time for that kind of style to click for you at the NHl level.

Loved the effort and the up-tempo game. This is the way hockey is supposed to be played.

If nothing else, tonight served notice that this Pens team is capable of playing the type of fast-paced, physical hockey that it's going to take to beat the top teams in the East - teams like Buffalo, Ottawa, Atlanta, and Carolina. Those are the teams in the East that play the same way as the Sharks.

Couldn't be getting Orpik back at a better time. I hope Eaton is OK.

If this is the worst game we see from Crosby and Malkin all year, then we're going to be in good shape.

Good to see we can play physical and compete in that style of a game. Next game vs the Ducks is most likely a loss. Those 2pts vs the Kings were HUGE.

Really hoping Eaton is OK.

Moore had his best game of the year.

Crosby needs to shoot a bit more and the PP is awful.

There is no way we could win a game with ZERO shots from #87.
"A bit more" is a vast understatement. I liked his style much better
when he was ready to rob Hatcher a few days ago... I did not ses that
kind of intensity in Sid tonight (he was still one of the best Pens
on the ice).

yeah especially when Thorton peed on him before setting up their 3rd goal. he was outsmarted and out muscled. he is very much a rookie right now but still very high potential.

One of his few mistakes, which was borderline. You can't make every play. Thorton makes that play against most defenseman. Beside who was covering Grier. There wasn't a guy within twenty feet of him.

I know, I know. I'm not saying Welch sucks, far from it. He IS however a ROOKIE and he will make rookie mistakes. Grier should have never had that shot but when your defense gives Joe Thorton a night and a day to find a player your forwards are going to panic most of the time. Just all around bad play but it broke down with that move Thortont put on him.

Welch is looking to line guys up and it's getting him caught out of position alot, if that's his style then I guess I'll just have to get used to it. After watching Orik's 2st 2 season I know that it takes some time for that kind of style to click for you at the NHl level.

Are we talking about the play right before Grier's goal where Crosby should have cleared but failed and Thornton got the puck back after Welch rubbed him out of the play already one time?

This was Crosby's worst game I;ve seen this year, but it still wasn't a bad game.

This game was really frustrating.
Here is my instant end of game analysis.

Malkin and Crosby didn't do a whole lot. It seemed that the Sharks D keyed in on those two and did a very good job. I can see in the future where we are going to have to break them up. They just seemed to not have any room at all out there.

Also Colby needs to step it up. He plays very timid with Croby and Malkin now. He needs moved off their line or he needs to play with a little more energy.

Games like this show that sometimes the old vets can really chip in. I think that Leclair had a great game. He was backshecking, he created a lot of offense, and could have had a couple more points tonight if the bounces went right.

Dominic Moore had a great game as well. He has some really good moves and is good at getting away from defenders. He was finding some space and making good use of it.

Ouellet once again shows why he is on the team. Give him a chance and he'll bury it. He just needs to get more chances.

The 4th line had a lot of energy and had a lot of chances as well. 3rd and 4th lines get an A this game.

Flurey didn't play bad but he didn't play great eithor. He did keep them in it but couldn't steal a point for them. He made some nice saves but that 3rd goal seemed a little weak.

2nd line didn't do much. I think that Recchi just drags that line down. Jordan played pretty good. Not his best game but he didn't do anything horrible. Ekman looks good at times and sucks at others. I wonder if they replaced Recchi with a healthy Malone if that would improve that line? I didn't see Recchi do one helpful thing tonight. He just chugs around the ice like a little wind up toy.

Scuderi had a horrible horrible game. I asked about a week ago who was better; Scuds or Melicher. After this game there is no comparison.
Melichar looked pretty good, Gonchar looked even better, Welch looked the best. I don't know who played worse, Whitney or Scuderi, but both were horrible. Hope Eaton isn't hurt too bad. I can see after this game how much a good defense helps your game. SJ defense was awesome. They moved the puck quick, skated like the wind, and were very physical. Twice as good as our defense.

Overall the Pens hung right there with them but they were obviously outplayed by SJ. These types of games are good for the pens. It will toughen them up and Show them where they need to improve. I liked how physical the pens were playing. They were right at the level of the skarks in that department. Now we have to get ready for the Ducks! Yikes!!!

Paul Baxter wrote:Netwolf, we all know you hate physical hockey, but physical play is inherent in the game. You've got to have players that can respond to the physical stuff. I know you really hate guys like Cairns and Ruutu, but those players are badly needed to protect the Crosbys and Malkins. I think if you had your way, the Penguins would be stocked completely with Lady Byng candidates.

No offense, but if you think that, you don't know jack about me. I do like physical hockey. Good clean hits can fire up a crowd more than a goal some times.

However, there's a BIG difference in physical hockey and throwing a hack like Cairns over the boards because someone looked sideways at Crosby or because someone had the nerve to body check Malkin.

I dislike Cairns because IMO he can't actually play hockey. I was wary of Ruutu coming here because he had shown a penchant for delivering cheapshots. This far, he's played clean and hard, and I've got no problems with him

Well, I'm glad to hear that you do like physical hockey, Netwolf. I based my comments purely on your past posts on this board, which have clearly indicated that you have no use for players like Carins and Ruutu. I specifically remember a post you made after Shero signed Ruutu in which you blasted the signing, because Ruutu was "too dirty" or something to that effect. We all have our opinions, but Shero must have thought that the Pens were too soft of a team and, therefore, felt guys like Ruutu, Petrovicky, and Thornburn were needed to upgrade team toughness. Needless to say, I strongly agree with Shero's moves. He knew darn well that the Pens were too soft. As for Cairns, yes, it's true he is not a good player, but he "can" play as a fill-in (he played regular NHL shifts in past years with the Rangers and Islanders), he's at least as good as Scuderi, IMHO. Most importantly, though, he is a genuinely feared fighter, which gives him a lot of value to this Penguins team.

Staal looked as if he didn't have any linemates at times. We need a winger for his line for sure. I would almost be tempted to put Moore and Army with him and bump Talbot up to the first line. We just heve to many centers.

Paul Baxter wrote:Well, I'm glad to hear that you do like physical hockey, Netwolf. I based my comments purely on your past posts on this board, which have clearly indicated that you have no use for players like Carins and Ruutu. I specifically remember a post you made after Shero signed Ruutu in which you blasted the signing, because Ruutu was "too dirty" or something to that effect. We all have our opinions, but Shero must have thought that the Pens were too soft of a team and, therefore, felt guys like Ruutu, Petrovicky, and Thornburn were needed to upgrade team toughness. Needless to say, I strongly agree with Shero's moves. He knew darn well that the Pens were too soft. As for Cairns, yes, it's true he is not a good player, but he "can" play as a fill-in (he played regular NHL shifts in past years with the Rangers and Islanders), he's at least as good as Scuderi, IMHO. Most importantly, though, he is a genuinely feared fighter, which gives him a lot of value to this Penguins team.

I didn't like the Ruutu signing at the time because everything I knew about him suggested he was borderline dirty. I have no use for cheapshot artists. You can have a guy that plays physical without playing dirty. So far, he's been clean, so I've got no problem with him.

I don't think Cairns can take a shift without being a liability, either because he's a below-average player or because he'll take a bad penalty. When he played regular shifts for those teams, the league was a lot different. He's too slow, both with regards to his skating and how he reads plays and reacts. Reports from his conditioning stint said he was slow. That could have been rust, but if he's slow at the AHL level, he might end up in reverse at the NHL level.